This Gift
by SukiRikko
Summary: For Week 2 of the Starmyu Discord's Winter Event. Sometimes figuring out how to confess is hard.


**Prompts:** "Just take the scarf already." / "Are you sure you want to get me a gift?" / Gift / Naughty or Nice  
**Characters: ** Toma Shiki, Ryo Fuyusawa, Chiaki Takafumi, and Shion Kasugano, with a small mention of Masashi Irinatsu, Yuta Hoshitani, and Seishiro Inumine  
**Amount of words:** 2221  
**Where in the timeline:** Second year for the Company/Third year for the characters in this fic, during December either the week before finals or finals week  
**Notes:** This is the shortest that I got an entry up. To be honest I already knew who I wanted to focus on in this prompt and what it was about as long as the prompts lined up (Which they did). I was thinking of possibly doing more of a 'Gift of the Magi' approach too for these two but ended up deciding against it. Having Shiki gay panic was a bit more fun anyways. Also thanks to Unlucky Cactus I'm all for the Seasons Kao Council is baring to talk to each other and work together but not fully forgiven after what happened after the Ayanagi Festival team. Tried to portray it here but not sure if it worked? I wanted some awkwardness between them anyways because of it and Fuyusawa trying to work to fixing it by initiating things. Also if anyone is OOC, especially Fuyusawa, I apologize! My goal this time was to use characters I haven't wrote too much in the previous challenges (Aka at least Team Otori and Hiragi of the company) so I tried sticking to that with Seasons group.

(Also fun fact: The song title that I picked for this entry actually really works for this fic though I didn't know that till after I wrote everything and was looking for a title. Whoops.)

* * *

If he had the choice, Toma would always pick taking naps throughout most of finals week instead of studying for the said finals. But he had no choice. This was their last year of finals and there was no way he could flake on them now if he wanted to graduate on time with the rest of his class. And that held even more true with how many classes he had to miss for Kao Council activities.

Unfortunately, life decided to throw him a curve ball and he was worrying even more which warranted even more naps he wanted to take.

Even right now as he, Chiaki, and Ryo were having a study session for their classes he was still worrying. No, not on the tension in the room for once. None of them have still quite forgiven Ryo with what he pulled back during the weeks leading up to the Ayanagi Festival but at least they all returned to a sort of speaking terms without wanting to maim him in the case of the ones who weren't pacifists.

Instead he was having a panic attack of sorts he was trying to hide on his face. Throughout the last few weeks he has been hanging out with everyone as normal once their lives returned to normal. Most of the time, it seemed to be him hanging out with Shion. Which wasn't a bad thing really. It took him a painfully long time to realize but Toma might have feelings for his friend. They kept finding out things they both had in common they didn't know about each other before. And every time Toma kept glancing at his friend he fought to try and keep his blush hidden from the pink-haired Kao Council member. All of his thoughts when they were apart usually came back to how cute Shion looked.

Yeah, he had it bad.

With a cough, he could hear his name being called. "Shiki…"

The voice was stern so Toma knew who it was without even looking. But in the matter of being placed on this person's naughty or nice list, he'd rather be on the nice side at this point. He looked over to see the owner of the voice, Ryo, just giving him his trademarked glare. One of these days Toma swears that Ryo's face will just freeze like that and he honestly wouldn't know if he could hold back a laugh if that ever happened.

"I believe we are here for a reason. Not for your incredible pining."

The first question that went through Toma's mind was is he really that obvious and not hiding it well. Wait, actually…How the heck did Ryo learn what pining meant?

"Huh? What do you mean?" Well if it was that was obvious at this point maybe Toma could bluff his way out of it and make them forget. "I was just thinking about this one formula-"

"Nonesense." That one was Chiaki. "It's so very clear on your face. It can't be anything else."

Toma knew at that point there was no use. He was defeated. With a pout and rubbing one of his eyes, he knew he had to tell them something. "Okay fine, you got me. So what?"

Chiaki cocked his head, taking the reign so Ryo didn't have to be awkward with this sort of a conversation."So what? It's really throwing you off your game. Don't think we've forgotten your mess up in our conversation the other day. Nor all those times I saw you walk into closed doors."

That was something they could have lived without bringing up. Toma winced as he remembered the pain of walking into those doors. They could have been nice and kept them open for him but…

"So, who's the lucky person?" That question was surprisingly from Ryo. Of course he would be curious.

"…Kasugano…" The two in front of Toma looked at each other before bursting into laughter. "What's so funny!? He'd be disgusted if he heard the truth wouldn't he?"

"Not at all." Ryo was trying to regain his composure as he wiped a tear away. While normally they would all comment how odd it was for them to see him laugh this was the wrong time for it. "Actually, none of us wanted to say anything in case for Kasugano's sake but now that we know you feel like that, he actually likes you too."

"Like, _like you_ like you," Chiaki chimed in right after.

"Wait, really!?" Well at least now Toma didn't have to worry about Shion being straight or disgusted with him. But now he also knew one of them had to confess. He was also really sure it wouldn't be Shion. "How'd did you guys know?"

Ryo's eyes quickly adverted Toma's, a telltale sign that it was something they weren't supposed to be doing. Chiaki, however, would own up to it. "We accidently overheard him as he was murmuring to himself in the council room. He swore us to secrecy, worried that you wouldn't want to be around him if you found that out and were homophobic."

That long? Well, Toma would be surprised if it was anyone but these two keeping that a secret for this long. Mashashi, Yuta, or Seishiro would be more likely to accidently blather that to him honestly. These two were the complete opposite.

"Anyways, break is over. Should we get back to work?"

* * *

_You have 1 new message_

**Shion:** Wait did I read you correctly? You want to give me something.

**Shion:** Are you sure you want to give me a gift?

As he read the message, Toma gave a soft chuckle. Of course Shion would rather Toma think of himself then the pink haired boy himself. But he wasn't going to tell him why until it was time.

**Toma:** It's really no big deal I promise! Just let me get you something okay?

**Shion:** …

**Shion:** Fine…

He typed a quick thanks before pocketing his phone. He had to work quick. Finals were almost over. After then, everyone would be out for winter break and that meant he wouldn't be seeing anyone, especially his crush, until the school term resumed after New Years.

"Okay, I'm ready."

Looking up, he could see Ryo walking up to him at the front door of the council room. Of course the teal haired teen would be overdressed with a heavy jacket, ear muffs, and a scarf around his neck. Sure, Ryo was like winter but he was always over prepared for anything. That's something anyone at Ayanagi would learn within just a few hours being around the winter boy.

"Let's go."

The two walked out without another word. Chiaki went ahead earlier as his path home was much different. This was something the two wanted to do by themselves anyways. It was always awkward with everything that happened, sure. But it was a way for them to try and fix things even if it meant just being quiet but in each other's presence. No one said they didn't have to be back to friends right away.

It was only a few steps from the school building before Toma sneezed and complained about it being too cold, even for winter. Before he knew it, he saw the scarf being held out to him. He had to glance and see if it was his eyes deciving him but it wasn't. Ryo was actually lending him his scarf.

But Toma didn't dare move. Maybe it was a prank or something of the sort. Ryo just looked angrier with every passing second that he kept holding the scarf before forcefully trying to hold his shout back as he said, "Just take the scarf already."

With a nod, Toma did as he was told. As he wrapped it around him he started to feel warmer, even if by only a bit. "Oh is the great Fuyusawa finally opening up?" Toma knew he was going to be scorned for that one but he couldn't help it.

Ryo just grunted. "Not at all. I just don't want to feel responsible for getting you sick before you can confess to your crush."

Toma couldn't help but crack a smile still.

* * *

There was one day of finals left but Toma had one thing to get through before that. He knew everyone, including Shion, would be leaving as soon as their last final got done. This was his last chance before the new year or chickening out. Either way he had no choice.

Shion was surprised he asked for them to meet during the evening. But all the less he agreed almost immediately. As long as Toma didn't have to drag out pleading because he usually sucked at that stuff. Even Shion usually agreed to him once he did so. He couldn't help but wonder how long Shion must have had that crush on him if he was always so easy for Toma to convince.

Since it was winter, it was already dark at five-o-clock when Toma wanted them to meet. Thankfully, they decided to meet at the park so the streetlights there should still provide them some lights. Toma tried his best to look presentable even if he took a nap right before we went to the park so of course he wanted that to be noticed.

It didn't take much longer for Shion to find him. As soon as Toma saw him, his heart started leaping out of his chest. Half out of nervousness and half because of just how cute he thought he was. In his arms was a wrapped gift of his own. Shion saw him and gave a silent 'oh' before walking over to him.

"Hey!" Toma waved over as Shion got even closer. "Please don't tell me you got a gift?"

Shion nodded as he slightly smiled. "I really couldn't let you be the only one to get a gift. It only felt right to reciprocate. Especially when you also made us dinner reservations for tonight."

"It's really no big deal…" Chuckling slightly, Toma scratched the back of his head as he avoided Shion's eyes. But he couldn't stay away for long. Even if he wanted to those purple eyes of Shion always drew him back in. "I mean…I have a good reason to. And you really shouldn't worry yourself about it. You should enjoy yourself after this semester."

"The same goes for you too. It's been a hectic one hasn't it?"

"Yeah…"

It was silent for a moment. Both of them felt equally awkward at it but neither could find the words. He couldn't tell what was going through Shion's mind so Toma was already worried about this whole plan. Even if he knew Shion's feelings what if he actually ended up rejecting him. He wouldn't be able to show his face around him for a while and that would be equally worse at the Kao Council meetings.

"Well, should we get going?"

Before Shion could walk any father, panic set in and before Toma knew it he grabbed Shion's shoulder. Whoops, his body worked much faster than his brain did. Oh well, it was now or never wasn't it.

He could see Shion look back at him, not asking why but his eyes clearly portrayed the question instead. The lump in his throat was even bigger then ever he felt like as he tried to swallow a breath. Dear whatever god was out there, all he wanted was for this to work out. Just one thing in his life. Could you do that?

"I…Uh…There's a third reason I called you out besides gifts and dinner." He couldn't look Shion in the eyes now. He couldn't find the strength and tried to look everywhere else but those beautiful purple orbs. "Well…I…Heh, this is embarrassing."

Thankfully, Shion would give him any amount of time that he needed to get his thoughts together. He wasn't in a hurry at all. Standing still, he waited for Toma to calm his nerves.

"So I found out. That you like me I mean. And by that I mean _like me_ like me. And…Well…I guess I'm just trying to say that I _like you_ like you too. I'm just…I'm worried you will reject this even if I tell you the truth from the bottom of my heart. I'm scared that this would just ruin us." He closed his eyes, Toma couldn't even dare to look at him right now on the chance this would end horribly. "But…I'll…I'll take the chance anyways. Shion Kasugano, I am in love with you. Will you go out with me?"

The silence wasn't welcoming but Toma didn't want to open his eyes to see what Shion's reaction was. He barely noticed the footsteps coming towards him. All he could feel was a sudden warmth and wetness on his lips. At the sudden reaction, he opened his eyes and saw Shion leaning in and kissing him before carefully hugging him so that he wouldn't destroy either of their gifts.

"Of course…" His voice was on the edge of breaking into tears of happiness but Shion pushed on. "Toma, of course I will!"

Even if it was just the start of Winter, Toma could feel his Spring already beginning.


End file.
